Tears of Crimson
by oxpeRsoCom311ox
Summary: It is Akito's last dying days. He has requested to see Tohru as well, but what could he have in store for her? A sinister plot erupts from the dying man as he dies by drowning in his own insane laughter. The quest Akito has given her seems safe.kt yk so
1. Fighting With Yourself

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Fruits Basket characters, the Chinese Zodiac, or any other crap I should put up here so I won't be sued. This story is mostly told from Kyo's POV. Yeah…woohoo…okay moving on.

Kyo's POV

_"I'm afraid of you right now, Kyo. But I want us to stay together." _Those words have been pulsing through my head ever since they were spoken by her. _Her._Tohru Honda; One of the first people to ever have accepted me, whilst I was in my hideous, skeletal form. Even though everything turned out fine, I would've rather not her have seen me like that. I'm such an idiot. To think she could ever feel the same way about me as I did her. It's all that _damn _rats fault.

He is the cause of all my unhappiness. Every time I see him talk to her, even look at her, it pisses me off. And not understanding these feelings pisses me off even more.

I hate his curse! For this I can never hold Tohru in my arms without turning into a cat. I want her in my arms. But does that make me weak? That's the last thing I want to be. Damn, if my master could see me make a huge deal about this, he'd be so disappointed.

No, I can't act this weak and idiotic. I have to keep my feelings from her, even if it rips me from the inside out.

These thoughts were clouding my brain, late every night. Only on this particular night did they finally annoy the Hell out of me.

"Shut up!" I yelled at myself.

I put my arms behind my head and looked at the stars. I was on the roof. So many memories, only on this roof. Watching sunrise with Tohru and the rat, talking to Tohru about training in the mountains, Tohru cheering me up, Tohru. It was all about Tohru now. I hated myself for being such a lovesick fool.

I looked at the inky-blue sky. This was the best time to be outside. I sometimes wished dawn would never come. I didn't have to talk to anyone, or be with anyone, no one but myself. I was alone to let my mind wander. But unfortunately this evening, I fell asleep and didn't awake until I heard thunder.

I looked back up at the sky, still half-asleep. It was still nighttime, or early morning I guessed. I didn't want to be rained on, so I hopped down off the roof and made my way inside. Still a bit disoriented. I was surprised to see Shigure awake and sitting at the table, pencil in hand.

"Ah, Kyo you're inside for once. Didn't want to get rained on I guess?" he asked me, a little too cheerfully.

"What are you doing up?" I yawned, ignoring his question.

Shigure gave me a look of mock offense. Idiot.

"Why do you care? You never care about me anyway!" he said, his lip quivering.

I rolled my eyes as he went on and on.

"All I ask Kyo is that you care about me, I feed you, clothe you, put a roof under you (you never stay inside). All I ask is a simple thank you." He said, every word dripping in self-pity and pathetic mockery, I found it quite disgusting.

"Shut up," I replied making my way up the stairs.

Shigure smirked behind me and then looked back down to his paper, pencil moving around it rapidly.

I trudged up the stairs; Shigure wasn't in his room so I would stay in there. I could care less if he got mad at me for stealing his bed. The worst I would get was one of his stupid 'all I ask of you…' talks. Could he ever be serious? He was supposed to be the adult. He was almost freakin' 30!

I plopped down in his bed, not bothering to put the covers over me. I listened to the soft rain patter on the roof. Then eventually I drifted off to sleep.

I awoke maybe a few hours later because I heard voices from downstairs. Why did they have to be so loud? This is why I sleep on the roof.

"I'm not brave enough to wake him up, he might kill me!" I heard Shigure whine.

"Oh, and you think that the stupid cat feels any better about me?" Yuki replied wearily.

"I'll go, but I don't think he'll be too happy about breakfast. I made leek stew again. I couldn't help it. The leeks at Yuki's garden are so delicious," Tohru said cheerfully.

I could here her light footsteps coming up the stairs. When will people put it through their head that I hate leeks?! I pretended to be asleep, just so I could open my eyes to see her. Wow, I am an idiot.

I felt her lightly touch my shoulder.

"Kyo? Kyo, breakfast is ready." She said softly in my ear.

My face grew red, just to know that her face was that close to mine. I had to pretend to be asleep a little longer, in hopes that she would get closer. I hate being such a lovesick fool.

She bent down beside me, I felt her soft hand stroke the side of my face and the other was rubbing my shoulder. It felt good; she needs to give backrubs to people.

"Kyo, wake up," she said a bit louder this time.

I decided I shouldn't play her like this any longer as I slowly opened my eyes. She really was close to me. Our noses were almost touching. If I had lifted my head any more, we would've been kissing. I couldn't bring myself to lift my head. However I couldn't hide my feelings of surprise, she was almost too close…

"Ah! Whoa! What're you doing?!" I said defensively.

She bolted back up and gave a frantic and yet apologetic look.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I am so sorry! I didn't mean to scare you; I was just waking you up for breakfast! I won't do it again really-" she began feverishly.

I stood up and quickly tried to cover for myself.

"Uh no, that's not it. I was just surprised…that's all. You…I…don't do that next time you wake me up!" I stuttered.

"Okay," Tohru replied, looking down at the floor.

I did feel a little bit sorry for yelling at her.

" I made leek stew for breakfast, I know you don't really like leeks, so I want to know if there's something else that I could make for you," she asked looking directly at my face.

"Uh, no, it's fine. I'll deal with it," I said brushing past her and making my way downstairs.

I felt her smiling as she trailed behind me. I couldn't help but smile as well. I loved that goofy smile of hers. Shigure broke my moment of reflection.

"Ah, so he's awake. How did you sleep?" he asked sitting at the table with a newspaper and a bowl of leek stew.

Yuki simply glared at me. I sent a poisonous look back at him. I ignored Shigure, sat down, and hastily began shoving spoonfuls of leek stew into my mouth. I winced at every sip that slithered down my throat. Yuki gave me a look of mild shock. I swallowed another disgusting spoonful and then glared at rat boy.

"What's that look for?!" I shot at him defensively.

"You're eating leeks, on your own will?" Yuki replied, not seeming at all offended by my last comment.

"Yeah? So?" I said raising an eyebrow.

"You hate leeks Kyo, a sudden change of heart? Or is it just because Tohru cooked them?" Shigure asked nudging me with his elbow, with a devilish grin.

"That's not it and you know it! I was just so damn hungry and there was nothing else to eat!" I lied, giving Shigure a slap on the back of the head.

"I'm glad you're eating them," Tohru said smiling.

I didn't reply, but simply shoved another spoonful into my mouth. Yuki gave me a quizzical look but then turned back to his stew. I was thankful that he hadn't given it another thought.

School started out sucky that day. The Prince Yuki fan club was still bombarding me with questions about my cousin. That Yankee was just trying to pick a fight with me, and the Psychic was just plain scaring me, as usual.

"You have rather strange electric signals today," Saki Hanagima said to me in the middle of class.

I stared at her wide-eyed.

"Uh…I'm just…having a bad…day?" I suggested, hoping that she couldn't read minds like she could electric signals.

"Hm. It seems like a stronger emotion than anger; I have noticed it popping up more than usual. Especially when you're around…" she began, almost accusingly. Arisa Uotani interrupted.

"Hana, that's just rude. Don't read other people's thoughts," Arisa said half-joking.

Saki said nothing back but kept stealing glances at me during the rest of the class. How could someone like Tohru be friends with such weird girls?

I encountered Saki at lunch as well. I sat at my desk, looking at the lunch Tohru made for me. Bourbon chicken, white rice, and Miso soup. She knew I wasn't really a fish person, so Bourbon chicken was perfect. Even though I wasn't hungry, I decided to not waste a good meal.

Saki sat down, directly across from me. Why was she bothering me so much? She never pestered me like this. She just sat and stared, with that blank, almost sinister, look in her eye.

"What do you want?" I asked, almost a little too harsh than I had intended.

"I was wondering…" she said, eerily soft.

I really hope she wasn't going to talk to about earlier this morning, when we last saw eachother. I begged and pleaded in my mind that she would just go away. She was the only person that truly scared me.

"…are you going to eat that?" she asked pointing at the Miso soup.

I gave her an insane look. I shook my head. She then took the soup from off of the desk and walked back to where she was previously sitting. I gave a sigh of relief. That was close.

The next person to approach me during lunch was fan Club girl #2. She asked extremely annoying questions. She wouldn't leave until I had answered all of them. I told her that I didn't give a damn about Yuki and if they wanted to know about his private life ask him. But if they ever came near my house I would kick their scrawny asses. She looked highly offended and stalked off in a huff. I could care less if I ticked her off or not.

And the last person (thank god) to come to me was Tohru. Se asked how I liked the lunch that she made for me. But she noticed how I had given my soup to Hana and she wondered if there was something wrong with it. I told her no, it was fine and that I just wasn't hungry. She smiled and then sat across from me. We began to converse. Mostly about my master and how he was doing. It was amazing how I could talk with her. I felt like I could say almost anything around her.

"I'm glad that your Master is doing so well, I mean the last time I saw him was when…was when..." she trailed off and then looked down at her feet sheepishly.

I know she didn't mean to make me mad. But the fact is, she did. I couldn't help but glare at her. How could she be stupid enough to mention that? I rose up from my chair and then walked out of the classroom, slamming the door behind me. She knew how I felt about my other form. Why did she have to bring it up?

I looked in the classroom window, to steal one more glance at Tohru. To my misfortune, she looked as though she were on the verge of tears. I was so mad at myself. I threw a hard punch at the wall to let out my anger, and then stormed off. I didn't want to be at school. I could care less if Shigure gave me a lecture about how _he _was paying for tuition and how important school was.

As I walked down the street back to Shigure's house my mind began to wander down a strange path. _The curse_. There has to be some way to break the curse. Every curse was breakable. Maybe Akito knew, but I doubted it. If he knew how to break the curse, then he would've done it by now. Or would he? In a sense, I think that Akito almost _enjoys _having this curse put upon him. Akito had always been protective of his family. And this curse would keep outsiders away from the Soma's. Or maybe since he thought that he had to go through so much suffering, that everyone had to suffer with him. I don't know, Akito has a strange way of thinking.

Before I knew it I had approached Shigure's house, all of my anger towards Tohru had disintegrated. I did feel really bad for making her so upset. But she should know better than to talk about my other form.

I slid the door open to see a mingled look of shock and disappointment on Shigure's face. It did puzzle me a bit. Why would he look so disappointed, and almost worried?

"Had enough of school for one day, Kyo?" he asked, trying to hide his worried expression.

"Yeah, and what's that look for?" I asked, sitting down at the table.

Shigure gave a heavy sigh and then looked out the window, it looked as though something was troubling him. I looked at him with curiosity.

"Akito… has only a few nights left to live." Shigure said solemnly.

That was it? Akito was dying. Yeah, I already kinda knew that. And why should I care if Akito died or not? He never cared about me, so why should I care about him?

"That's…uh…sad," I replied, not sounding too broken up about the matter.

"And he's requested to see Tohru before he dies," Shigure said wincing. He knew that I would be angry.

I stood up at this news. What? Why did he want to see Tohru?! He couldn't erase her memory, what could he possibly want with her that couldn't end in pain?

"Why?! Why the hell does Akito want to see Tohru?!" I demanded.

Shigure didn't answer; this angered me further. I grabbed him by the collar of his robes and shook him violently.

"Why?! Answer me damnit!" I yelled into his face.

Shigure's expression didn't change, even after my outburst, he remained calm and collected. I sat down at the table with a pouting mouth and a mingled feeling of anxiety and rage. Shigure waited for me o calm down before he spoke again.

"I don't know why Akito wants to see Tohru. But there is nothing that I can do about it. For now all we can do is wait, and hope that his reason for her presence is not going to end in suffering for her, and the Soma's." he explained.

I was nonplussed. His guess was as good as mine. I had to sit and wait for hours, when she would arrive home and then face her dismal fate. All I could do was watch. It tortured me. I couldn't do anything about it. I couldn't change what was about to happen to her. And the worst part was, I didn't even know what was going to happen. Sick and twisted fantasies ran through my head about what Akito had in store for her. It was too much.

The hours passed by painfully slow. I sat on the roof, keeping a vigil on the path that led from school to the house. I hoped that I could see Tohru's smiling face as she skipped down the path with Yuki at her side. If only Yuki would just leave, then the picture of her would be perfect. He was the only thing standing in the way between her and I. Unfortunately; the thing standing in the way was a heavy titanium wall instead of cellophane. He was much harder to see through to me.

Finally, after 3 excruciating hours, I spotted Tohru walking down the path. But to my dismay, she was alone. She had lost the happy bounce in her step and she had a solemn mien about her. I wondered where the damn rat was, most likely a student council meeting. After all, he was the president.

I jumped down off of the roof and ran to greet Tohru. As I approached her, she sent me a painful smile. She always hid her feelings…I hated that. I got up close to her and gave an exasperated sigh. I took her hand in mine and dragged her to the porch. She sat down next to me, looking down at her feet.

"What's wrong?" I inquired, trying to catch her eye by bringing my face close to hers.

It took her a few moments to contemplate on if she should tell me or not. She looked up into my eyes. I could see she was insane with worry and looked utterly upset.

"Hotori…came to meet Yuki today," she explained slowly.

This statement intrigued me immediately. Not only did Akito want to see Tohru, but now Hotori was unexpectedly interested in Yuki. I wondered why the Soma's had suddenly begun to take interest in eachother. It used to be that we just let everyone be alone.

"Yeah, what did he want with him?" I asked her silently.

"He said…that Akito…wanted to see him…for a while." She said, almost on the verge of tears.

I could understand why she was crying. Although I hate this fact, Tohru cares about Yuki so much, and she knew the immense fear that Yuki had of Akito. Akito's mere presence scared the hell out of him. I had no idea why, Yuki or Shigure or anyone never told me about it. But you could practically sense a feel of danger towards Yuki when Akito was around.

"Don't worry about it, that rat can take a lot of crap from people. He'll be fine. How long do you think he'll be gone?" I asked putting my hands behind my head.

Tohru shrugged, "Hotori said it would be maybe the whole night. There's no telling really."

I leaned back and thought for a few moments. Tohru was so upset; I didn't have the heart to tell her that Akito had summoned her as well. What else was I supposed to do? Make her worry even more? She had enough on her plate already.

Maybe I should do something for her...but what could I possibly do to help her? She was always the one cheering me up, finding ways to make me smile and laugh. She took good care of me; I'll admit that I need her a lot more than she probably needs me.

"Hey, like I said, don't worry too much. And...how about...I cook dinner tonight, and we could rent a movie or sumthin'," I suggested, trying to sound polite.

Tohru's face lit up with shock,"Oh no! I couldn't possibly! I mean, I promised I would cook and clean and take care of the house, I'm only doing my fair share! You shouldn't have to do this for me! It's quite all right! I'll...-"

I interrupted by cupping my hands around her face and staring into her dark blue eyes, such beautiful eyes.

"Stop babbling, you need a night off. Besides, I want to cook. Because then I don't get anymore surprises about what I'm eating, like leeks," I said, the last bit I murmured to myself.

Tohru stared blankly back up at me. She just stared for a moment, she looked like she was thinking hard about something, but knowing her, she probably just spaced out.

"O-okay," she said bringing my hands down from her face and setting them in her lap.

We gazed at eachother for a few moments, before I realized that she had her hands on top of mine and our fingers were interlocked. My cheeks flushed crimson as I tore my hands away and I stuck them stiffly at my sides. Tohru's face cracked into a warm smile. I looked the other direction, embarrassed to show my fire truck-red face.

Just then, Shigure decided to rear his ugly head. I heard a faint, taunting, voice coming from behind me.

"Kyo and Tohru sittin' in a tree. K-I-S-S-I..." he sang in between suppressed giggles.

I bolted up and just about rung his neck.

"You idiot! Don't you ever quit?! It's not like that and you know it, so shut up, asshole!" I yelled, shaking him violently.

Tohru was behind me telling me that I shouldn't hurt him, and that it was all in good humor, but as usual I didn't listen. After a while I stopped shaking him long enough for Shigure to finally spew out an explanation.

"We have to leave pretty soon now to pick up Yuki. Hotori has too many patients at the moment (the flu is going around at Soma house), so he can't take Yuki home. And Yuki explained over the phone that he would only stay at Soma house if Hell froze over. And considering that probably won't happen, we have to pick him up," he explained.

I blinked a few times, "Akito is known for notoriously short meetings now, isn't he?" I said, it was more of a statement than an actual question.

"Yes, well, his time is short. He has many things that he wants to say to many people," Shigure pointed out, putting his arms around me and Tohru's shoulders and leading us to the black van. He barely ever drove it. Quite frankly, I was really scared of his driving.

"Please don't tell me that you're driving..." I whined.

"It'll be okay Kyo, Shigure is responsible, I'm sure he's a wonderful driver," Tohru said, trying to comfort me.

But her words did the exact opposite. It made me even more worried that she was enough of an airhead to believe that. I cringed as I entered the metal death trap, which Shigure was directing. I buckled my seat belt before he could even turn the ignition.

The car gave a low rumble and Shigure backed out, turned around, and drove (thankfully) on the right side of the road. At least he did that right.

"So much for dinner and a movie," I muttered disappointedly.

The drive wasn't as bad as I thought as it would be. Shigure only ran over 2 stop signs and a squirrel. A lot better than the last time, I think he actually hit a pedestrian...he doesn't like to talk about it.

After an hour or so of screaming, carsickness, falling all over eachother, and hitting heads on the ceiling from bumps, we reached Soma house.

I had only been there a few times after I moved in with Shigure, but Soma house was hard to forget. The towering citadel was definitely intimidating. There were dozens of pagodas lined up one after the other. It was like we had our own city. The 'Soma City', as I would call it, was dotted with lakes and ponds, even forests could be found.

"Ladies first," Shigure said smiling at Tohru.

He opened the massive gate door and let Tohru inside. He soon followed her, not bothering to leave the gate open for me. I muttered curses at him as the door almost hit me in the face. Tohru looked around.

She was still amazed by this place. What was so amazing about this place? To Yuki it was Hell, to Shigure it was Hell, and to me it was Hell. What could possibly possess anyone to live here? For me, for everyone in the Zodiac, this house reeked of painful memories. I looked around at the other houses and noticed that Akito's window was wide open, however there was no light inside. He needed fresh air, that was the only thing they could do for him now.

Akito's death, however horrible this may sound, wouldn't bother me when it came. Every Soma hated the man, or so it seemed. He was a corrupt, seething, snake. I hated him with every drop of blood in my body. He beat Yuki, blinded Hotori, pulled Tohru by the hair, slapped Kisa, scorned and ignored me, rejected everyone. And since he rejected, they rejected back at him. I had a feeling that he was quite aware how everyone felt about him, but he had so much power over them that he really didn't care.

"Shall we?" Shigure suggested towards Akito's dwelling.

I gave a heavy sigh and looked absentmindedly ahead. I grasped Tohru's hand for comfort, whatever happened, I always wanted her to know that I'd be there.

"Yeah," I replied slowly.

Tohru did not seem at all surprised that I had her hand in mine. I savored that moment, that picture of our hands intertwined will stay in my memory for all eternity.

We trudged across the grounds, as slowly as we could, none of us wanted to be there and you could tell. As we approached the steps up to the sliding door, Tohru squeezed my hand, as if she was in pain. I tightened my grip on hers as to say 'Don't worry, we'll be fine.'

As Shigure stared at the sliding door he looked as though he had some second thoughts. But nonetheless, he placed his hand on the door and slid it slowly to the side. He looked in the dark room for a moment, his face turned stone still, he ran desperately inside. I dared not to look over his shoulder. Tohru about ran inside after him, but I pulled her back. I knew Akito would be pissed off enough at Shigure for bursting in; Tohru didn't need to get in trouble as well.

I finally saw what all of the commotion was about. As soon as Shigure's had opened the door, the scent of fresh blood entered my nostrils. Yuki was lying in a heap on the floor. Akito was standing in front of him, whip in hand, blood dripping onto the wooden floor. It was horrifying. Once Tohru saw the grotesque picture, she began to bawl on my shoulder, hiding her face in my shirt, as I was soaked with her tears.

Yuki didn't look hurt too bad. His shirt was ripped off and there were long streaks down his back. He had previous scars there, but now the old wounds had been opened again. Yuki slowly stood up, with some support from Shigure. I expected Shigure to say something witty or obnoxious to Akito, but he knew that it wasn't the right time.

Akito's knees were shaking, they finally gave in and he fell to the ground. He was growing weak, but yet he was still so strong.

Shigure hobbled, with his arm around Yuki's middle. Yuki looked up and gave Tohru a painful smile. Tohru loosened her grip on my shirt and looked up slowly at Yuki. She let go of my shirt, her hands shaking. She reached her hand out to him and touched the side of his face. Anger boiled inside of me. Yuki took no notice to my rage; instead he directed his attention to Tohru.

"I'm fine, you needn't worry," Yuki replied in a hoarse voice.

He really was in pain, for a half a second, I almost felt bad for him. Shigure took his hand off Yuki and let him fall into Tohru. He changed into a rat and Tohru caught him just before he hit the ground.

"He should be easier to carry that way, I have to speak with Akito for a moment. Stay outside of the door; don't come in, no matter what you hear. Just stay outside," Shigure said gravely.

We all obeyed his orders. We knew better than to mess around with Shigure when he was like this. It was pretty rare to see him that serious.

Shigure walked silently into the house and closed the door behind him. He saw Akito on the ground, a disturbing smile played on his lips, as he ran his fingers down the whip. The blood now was splattered on his hands. It was a contrast, the crimson liquid against his white, spider-like, hands.

Shigure sat down in front of Akito, his face grave.

"Why do you do this to Yuki? Why do you torture and beat him? What has Yuki done to you Akito? What could he have possibly have done to hurt you so deeply?" Shigure asked in a monotone voice.

Akito sat for a moment in silence, the insane smirk still on his pale lips. He looked up at Shigure, his eyes were cold and empty; The eerie look on Akito's face sent chills up and down Shigure's spine.

"Even when I have passed, Yuki's fear for me will still be fresh in his blood. I have set his mind by my laws and my rules, call it brainwashing if you must. He will never defy me, never, even if I'm dead and six feet under, the image of me, his blood on my hands, will be scarred in his mind," Akito said in a deadly whisper.

Shigure looked at him as though he was insane (which he probably was). But in a way, he pitied Akito. Akito held the burden of the curse, he had a horrible past, not many knew about it. Shigure didn't ask anything more of Yuki, he was disturbed by Akito's reasoning.

"And what of Tohru? Would you like to see her now? She's here you know." He said.

Akito, surprisingly, shook his head. He reached into his kimono and took out a folded up, wrinkled, piece of paper. With trembling hands, he placed the paper in Shigure's lap.

"Give this to her, I have no time to speak with her. There are others that are more important than her who I must converse with." He said, the strange grin still on his face.

Shigure nodded and stuffed it in the belt of his robe.

"Kyo's here too, would you like to speak with him?" Shigure suggested.

Akito gave a hoarse laugh, "I said that I had important people to talk with. I have no time to spend with the cat and his stupidity.

Shigure stood up without another word. He bowed to Akito and made his way for the door. But Akito stopped him.

"Shigure!" he barked at him.

Shigure turned towards him questioningly. Akito paused a moment before he spoke.

"Don't give the letter to her yet, wait for four days. You will understand later." He commanded before sending Shigure out.


	2. Symolism of the Burden

No matter how strange Akito's orders were, it was best to yield to them. Much like Yuki, Shigure feared Akito. He had his fair share of beatings from that same whip. Shigure cringed for a moment before he faced the others and me.

Yuki had changed back and gotten his clothes back on. He wasn't feeling as bad as before, he was standing up straight and smiling at Shigure. He held Tohru's left hand, and I held her right one.

"Well, now that all of our 'Akito Meetings' are over, we should walk around a bit. Maybe visit around with the relatives?" Shigure suggested, still recovering from his strange conversation.

I nodded, what else was there to do? Yuki didn't seem too eager, but Tohru was just downright excited. She was so easily entertained. We began to walk idly when no sooner I saw two girls wave toward Shigure and Yuki.

Yuki's eyes widened, "Oh no, that can't be…no, please don't be…" Yuki prayed.

It was. Two girls ran over, the first was tall, she was about my height. The girl had chestnut-brown hair with white highlights. Yes, white highlights. She had a small, button nose, large brown eyes, and a big, pretty smile. She looked about twenty-four or twenty-five years old.

The second girl was much shorter; she was maybe seven or eight. She had long, black hair that was up in a loose bun. Her face was pale and pointed. She definitely resembled Akito.

Shigure's face lit up as soon as he saw the two girls.

"Yumiko! Makino! Never thought I'd see you again until New Years!" Shigure said giving the girl with brown hair and white highlights a huge, bear hug.

She returned his hug and laughed as he swung her around. The little girl (Makino) tugged on Yuki's pants and smile up at him. Yuki returned the smile and picked her up.

"Cousin Yuki, I missed you! Yumiko missed you too!" she said quietly.

"Oh joy," he replied, not sounding to enthusiastic.

Yumiko then pushed herself out of Shigure's grasp. She spotted me and immediately jumped on me. She ruffled my hair and tickled my sides.

"Been a while, right Kyo?!" she laughed as she continued to give me a hard time.

I kept trying to push her away, "Hey! Hey! Quit it! Damn it! You haven't changed at all Yumiko Soma!" I yelled angrily.

She gave her trademark, 'roaring laugh' and then moved over to Yuki.

"I missed you too!" She said giving him a hug and lifting him off of the ground.

"That's nice," Yuki said in a lifeless voice.

"So what are you doing out of the house?" Shigure asked her excitedly.

She pushed Yuki aside and bolted over to him as soon as she heard his voice.

"Me and Makino were about to go visit Akito, he called for me and so I figured I better visit him. Well, I was called, Makino just wanted to come. I don't know if he wants to see her or not," she explained, her smile slowly dropping until she said the last bit.

Shigure looked up sympathetically at Makino, as if he understood. Well, I sure as Hell didn't. Tohru simply stood there in shock. This was a little much for her.

Yumiko just noticed her and then her face resumed to smiling. How can anyone smile that much? My face would hurt after a while. She took Makino from Yuki's arms and set her down in front of Tohru. She grabbed Tohru's hands and shook them vigorously.

"You must be the infamous Tohru! Hotori talks non-stop about you! I'm sure Shigure would too, but I never get to talk to him so never mind that. I was so rude not to introduce myself. My name is Yumiko Soma, and in front of me is Makino Soma. We live together, and no she's not my sister, but that's not the point. You've met Yuki's brother, Ayame, right? Of course you have! Who hasn't? Anyway, he's Makino's and my roommate. Ayame's so nice! He's great! I love him! Don't you? But I can tell he's just waiting for me to move out. So when Akito passes away I was thinking that Makino and I could live with Shigure and you guys. We're not allowed to leave yet, not until Akito dies. It would give Ayame some space, you know?" She said this in one breath, it amazed Tohru how much one person could talk so much and so fast.

Tohru took a few breaths and waited until she could fully comprehend what Yumiko was saying.

"So, you're…-" Tohru began but Yumiko interrupted her.

"A member of the Zodiac? Yeah! Makino and me are both members of the Zodiac; we're the last two that you'll meet, considering you've met everyone else. That's why I can hug Shigure without him transforming. I bet you were wondering that, huh? You met Momiji right? Yeah, he…-" she began, then it was my turn to interrupt the talking machine.

"Wait, whoa! Why are you moving in with us?! Who said you could?! There's no room for anymore people!" I said angrily.

Shigure took Yumiko in his arms, "Ah, you're so full of spirit. They can move in, besides, I want them to." He said smiling innocently.

"No! I don't want her to move in1" I said stubbornly.

Yumiko's lip quivered, she was just like Shigure, loved to poke fun and fake people out.

"You don't want us to move in? Don't you love us Kyo?" she said sadly.

"I don't care about her," I began pointing at Makino, "Because she knows how to shut up. You however…"

"Where would you sleep anyway?" Yuki pointed out.

"Makino could sleep in Tohru's room and Yumiko could sleep with me…I mean…in my bed…I mean…in my room," Shigure said with devilish grin.

Yumiko raised her eyebrows twice, "Ooh, Shigure, you read my mind."

"Would you two quit it?!" I yelled in frustration.

Shigure and Yumiko laughed together. Theirs laughs harmonized so beautifully. I had no idea why this struck me; they just looked and sounded so perfect together. They were practically the perfect match. Shigure could keep her under control when she needed to be and she could teach Shigure to have fun in ways he never would have thought of. Shigure could read people so well and Yumiko couldn't. Yumiko could have fun and make friends anywhere she went, Shigure couldn't. And, believe it or not, Yumiko had much more responsibility than Shigure did. She had practically raised Makino, or so I've heard. Shigure could never do that by himself.

Yumiko laughed a bit more and then brushed a strand of white hair behind her ear to reveal three piercings up her ear. She straightened out her green tank top and put on a serious face.

"Well, we best get to see Akito, we'll see you sometime soon," she said nodding to each of us.

Makino bowed and turned the opposite direction towards Akito's house. At that moment Tohru came to her senses and grasped Yumiko's shoulder quickly to stop her from walking away. Yumiko was a bit taken-aback from her sudden movement. She jerked her head back towards Tohru and held an arm out to stop Makino from walking.

"Well, I, I just met you. You don't have to be leaving so soon, do you? I'm sorry I didn't say very much. I hope I didn't give you the wrong idea. I really do want to get to know you. You seem like such a fun person. Why don't you stay at Shigure's house tonight until you can bring your things over to his house? And you and Makino can stay in my room if you like. I don't mind sharing a room at all!" she said cheerfully.

Yumiko smiled at her and laughed.

"I didn't know I was loved this much. Makino has always been loved, she so lovable! But if it's okay with Shigure, I'd love stay over tonight," she said picking up Makino and giving her a big hug.

Tohru looked over hopefully at Shigure, he nodded happily. Yuki and I were definitely not as ecstatic as Tohru and Shigure were.

"It's not too much trouble is it?" Makino asked timidly.

Tohru shook her head and looked at Makino. She squealed.

"You are so adorable!" she said running her fingers through Makino's black hair.

Makino blushed, "Th-thank you,' she stuttered.

"Well, I'm gonna go to see Akito, wait out here for me and I'll bring you back to my house for a bit, then we can go to Shigure's. Sound like a plan?" Yumiko asked each of us.

Everyone except Yuki and I nodded enthusiastically. We just mumbled incoherently.

"Good, now wait here, I'll be right back." She said setting Makino down by Yuki.

She then went into Akito's house, closing the sliding door behind her.

"Cousin Yuki, Akito takes a great liking in Yumiko. Could you tell me why that is? Why does he not like me?" Makino asked tugging on Yuki's pant leg.

I felt bad for the girl. She had apparently endured some of Akito's torture as well. But for some reason, he had _always _liked Yumiko. Yuki didn't answer. I was tired of people just ignoring the girl. I picked her up and stared straight into her dark eyes.

"Akito doesn't really like anyone, probably not even Yumiko. He's just weird like that. It's not you're problem, kid, it's his." I explained roughly.

She just stared at me. It wasn't until now I had realized how pale and gaunt she was. Her frame was so thin, her hands were white, and always were as cold as ice. Her dark, almost black eyes were cold and empty. Her hands were so small and shaky. She looked so sickly. She has always worn kimonos, or anything else that covers her arms and legs, but my guess was that she was even thinner in her limbs.

After minutes of silence she spoke, her voice was as sharp as a knife "I want to see him."

Everyone stared at her in shock.

"Makino, that's not a very good idea…" Yuki said, his voice smothered with worry.

She wriggled her way out of my arms and walked up to Akito's door.

"I'm going to see him. I have to. I'm a part of his family too," she said stubbornly.

There was no stopping her. She slid the door aside. Akito was lying on the floor. Yumiko was kneeling over him and speaking softly. She turned her head as soon as she saw the door open. Her eyes widened. She gave a begging look to Makino, telling her to go back outside. Makino ignored her and walked slowly over to Akito. He gave Makino an icy glare as she slowly approached him. She sat on her knees next to him and touched her head to the floor several times to show respect. Yumiko slowly backed out until she was at the door. All she could do was watch.

I soon noticed that there were tears trickling down Makino's cheeks. She was crying for him. She truly loved him. The flow of tears increased as she looked into his face, but no sound escaped her lips. To my surprise a single tear fell from Akito's eyes. He took a shaking hand and ran it affectionately through her hair. Makino then flung out her arms and put him into a tender embrace, he was about to hug her back when she transformed.

A beautiful, black, hen had her wings around his neck. Akito's face then turned back to a glare. This glare turned to anger, this anger turned into a vicious rage. He stood up quickly, sending the hen across the room to hit the wall. She then transformed back. She sat up, her back to the wall and her knees drawn to her bare, naked chest.

Strands of hair had fallen from her loose bun. Akito then calmly walked over to the trembling girl. She sat there, in a feeble position, without clothes, shaking with pain, tears falling down her face.

He grabbed her by the hair and lifted her up to his height. Her bun then came out to show a long sheet of black hair that reached to her mid-thighs.

"You took her from me, it was your fault. It was YOUR FAULT!" he began in a deadly hiss and then progressed to a deafening yell.

He threw her across the room with great force. She once again hit the wall. She slid to the floor, blood coming slowly out of her mouth. She then crawled over to Akito and hugged his leg; she couldn't stand up. She closed her eyes as more silent tears erupted from her eyes.

Akito kicked her away.

"Do you think that coming here and bowing before me in your shame and nakedness will make me forgive you? NO! NEVER! IT IS AND WILL ALWAYS BE YOUR FAULT! YOU HORRIBLE WRETCH!" he raged at her, kicking her over and over.

Even though he beat her, called her horrible curses, she still clung to him.

"I know it is my fault…I'm…I'm sorry. You have to right to be angry, but I still love you. I don't want you to die…I…don't want you to die!" she began to sob.

"You….you…YOU DISGUSTING CREATURE! WHEN I DIE IT MEANS THAT I WON'T EVER HAVE YOU AS A BURDEN ANYMORE! YOU VILE, FILTHY, DISGUSTING…!" Akito began, but never finished.

"STOP!" Yumiko cried, flinging her arms around Makino's limp body, "Stop Akito. She is not your burden; leave her alone. Please, no more. I can't take it."

Akito stared madly at Yumiko and Makino. He then turned away and then he laid back on the floor. His body turned away from us.

I was appalled. I knew Akito was brutal, but to be so ruthless to a child? That was just insane.

Yumiko grabbed Makino's kimono and put it on her small, pale, body. I could see her ribs stick out; she was thin. We then left the house in silence.

Yumiko's eyes were averted forward and the look on her face was livid. I wasn't brave enough to say anything. Yuki held Makino's rumpled body in his arms. He had the same look as Yumiko. Tohru looked absolutely horrified, tears were welled up in her eyes. It pained me to see her like that. It made me feel helpless, because when Tohru cries no one can help her; she has to help herself. It kills me to watch her in pain and not be able to help her, to comfort her, to hold her.

I noticed Shigure was holding Yumiko's hand and rubbing her wrist with his thumb. I looked at Tohru; I then slid my hand in hers and rubbed her wrist with my thumb. She gave me a weak smile. Whoa… it worked…cool.

We then reached a tall, brown pagoda with a blue roof. It had three floors. It was an amazingly large house for only three people. Why would Yumiko want to leave the massive home?

Yumiko dug in her pocket and then her hand emerged, it was grasping a small silver key. She put the key in the lock, opened the door, and let us in. As soon as I entered the house, the sweet aroma of roses and carnations caressed my nostrils. Everyone else seemed to notice as well, they were sniffing the air and raising their eyebrows with approval.

We had entered a small lounge. In the center of the room there was a glass coffee table with a vase of roses sitting neatly in the middle. The carpet was an off-white color. There was a loveseat on the east wall, which was beige and made out of leather. On the west wall there was an armchair of the same color. Various pictures hung in the room. One was of Shigure and Yumiko; they looked as though they were at the prom. It did confuse me a little. Yumiko was four years younger than him, so it was probably _his _prom, and he was desperate enough to take another Soma. Another picture was of Yumiko and Makino. It was winter; Yumiko was pointing at the sky, explaining to Makino what snow was. The third picture had Hotori, Ayame, and Shigure in their High school days.

Come to think of it, how distantly related were Shigure and Yumiko? I've never seen, nor heard of, Yumiko's parents. I mean, the Zodiac are all very distant family. Except for Ayame and Yuki, considering they're brothers. And I'm pretty sure that Momiji is my second cousin or something.

"Just make yourselves comfortable, I'll go tell Aya that you're here. He better be decent, sometimes he walks around the house butt-naked. Trust me, it's not pretty," she muttered to herself.

I shuddered, that would bring bad mental images and some definite nightmares. She headed up the stairs, which were in the next room. The room next to us was inevitably the dining room. Tohru sat on the love seat; I quickly sat down next to her. Ha! Take that Yuki! Yuki sat down in the armchair with Makino in his lap. Shigure just leaned against the doorframe. Makino brought her head up from Yuki's chest.

"May I be excused? I would like to pack for Shigure's house now. It will take me a while, I'd much rather do it today than tomorrow," she asked quietly.

"Of course Maki (that was her nickname)" Shigure replied sweetly.

As soon as I figured that Makino was out of earshot, questions spewed from my mouth.

"Okay Shigure, what the hell was Akito yelling at her about? Who is 'she'? What was Makino's fault?" I asked hungrily.

Shigure sighed; the entire room had their eyes on him. He couldn't help but soak up the attention.

"Well, I figured that questions like this would come up. You might want to ask Yumiko about this, she knows the story much better than I do." He said sadly.

I leaned back on the love seat in a huff. What was going on? At that moment Yumiko's head poked around the corner.

"Sorry guys, Aya's taking a nap so this isn't going to be as much fun," she said half-joking.

At that point, I didn't care if I was being inconsiderate or not. I asked her the same questions as I asked Shigure. She looked at me, her expression wide-eyed. She stared at me for a few seconds before joining Shigure at the doorframe.

"Well, it's kind of, confusing. Well, no, but, it's…it's just…I don't know! It's hard to explain the story to someone who hasn't felt the same pain as Makino. Because then you wouldn't feel as sympathetic, you wouldn't get as much out of it as others would," she said shaking her head.

I stared at her, hungry for answers, "I don't care, just tell me."

She sighed as her and Shigure exchanged glances.

"It starts about nine years ago. Not many people know this, but Akito was married. And surprisingly it wasn't to a Soma. It was a woman by the name of Miyuki Asagira. He had met her when he was in high school. They were very much alike.

"Affectionate, tender, gentle. She was just as thin, if not thinner than him. But she didn't know about the curse.

"Miyuki and I had taken an immediate liking in eachother. When there was someone that I needed to talk to, I talked to Miyuki, she took me shopping, she listened to me, and she cared for me. I never knew my mother. She was my mother practically. And Akito decided, if she loved me as much as a mother did, he would love me as much as a father would.

"That's why Akito favors me, I suppose; A memory of Miyuki. They got married immediately after High School. And then maybe a year after they got married Miyuki got pregnant. Akito was ecstatic. He had no worries about the curse; nothing of the burden ever crossed his mind. He knew he was going to die young, but he didn't care. He was going to have a child. A human being of his own flesh and blood, a beautiful baby that he and Miyuki had created.

"You see, before he met Miyuki, the weight of the curse was tearing him from the inside-out, he was in a heavy depression. He didn't want that depression again. It was terrible for him.

"Then, Makino came two months premature, like all of the Zodiac members do. Akito was so worried, that he didn't even think of the possibility of the child being in the Zodiac. Then, when they handed the baby to Miyuki, she transformed into the hen. She screamed, she kicked, she cried. She was so helpless, why had her first child turned into an animal?

"As soon as Akito had heard the news, he was horrified. He had to now explain the curse to unwilling ears. As Makino grew, Akito began to hate her more and more, day by day. She symbolized his burden, the burden that had him depressed and miserable for his entire life. Miyuki avoided her own child, never spoke to her, never hugged her, never touched her. She thought of Makino as a disgusting creature and was so appalled with herself, that that wretch had come out of her own body.

"Eventually Miyuki slipped into a heavy depression. She wouldn't even hug Akito anymore. At this, Akito directed his fury at Makino. He beat her, spit on her, called her vile names. But through all of her father's rages and screams she would always say 'Daddy, I still love you.' Miyuki at first wanted her memory erased, she then decided that wasn't enough. _She _wanted to be erased.

"Miyuki sat on the floor staring at the knife in her hand. Makino came into the room because she heard eerie laughter and sobs. Miyuki turned to her. Her hair was standing on end, eyes glazed over, and blood dripping from her mouth, there were gashes all over her arms and legs, and on in her side. Her clothes were blood-soaked. 'You did this to me,' she said in a hoarse voice. At that moment she plunged the knife through her stomach and then through her chest, and then her neck. Makino looked over in horror. She was beyond tears. Akito discovered her dead body and had beat Makino until she was screaming.

"She had nothing to eat for four days. It got to the point where Akito couldn't even look at the child without hitting her, or throwing her across the room. Makino began to tell me about this. I decided it was enough and I took Makino to live with me. Akito, surprisingly, wasn't angry. I can still picture the twisted grin on his face as I brought Makino home."

Tohru began to cry silently on my shoulder. Makino…I never dreamed that a child could go through so much pain, but yet still go on loving Akito as much as she did. Akito, who would want to marry Akito? How could people be so cruel? A mother to commit suicide in front of her own child. A father who beats his offspring, yelling and blaming her for his wife's death, when Miyuki met her own demise? How insane are these people?

"I remember when I was younger, watching Makino be beaten and scolded for idiotic reasons. Yet I did nothing about it. I'm glad you stepped in Yumi," Shigure said sadly.

Yumiko nodded, "Me too."

After a moment of silence, Makino bounded downstairs. She had a black suitcase that was practically as big as her. She had regained her bright smile and looked eagerly at us.

"Shall we go?" she asked anxiously.

Yumiko and Shigure smiled at her. For a moment I thought I saw a glint of a tear in Shigure's eyes, but maybe it was just my imagination.

Yumiko picked her up and embraced her tightly. Shigure picked up her suitcase. Yumiko looked at her with a painful smile as tears trickled down her cheeks.

"Yes, we shall," Yumiko said softly.

And with that the six of us walked out into the glorious sunlight.


	3. Passion Flowers

(A/N:I am very sorry for the delay. Ever since that damn thing called school has started up again I have been increasingly busy with work and extra-curricular activities. I will try my hardest to write two chapters a month and maybe write some one-shots in between. I will finish this chapter by early September and Chapter Four will hopefully be done near the end of September. Same goes for October with Chapters 5 and 6 and for November with 7 and 8. However in December I will be taking a nice break for 2 reasons. 1: It's the Christmas season. I will be working my ass off for money for gifts, 2: It's Lyall's birthday on the 27 and it will take me up that entire month to think of a good gift for him. So enough with my ramblings. WARNING: In this chapter you will find out why it's rated R. It talks a LOT about sex in this chapter, there is a lemon scene, and Kyo curses a lot. So if your young little eyes aren't ready for this...then stop reading the story...I should've driven you off in the last two chapters.)

Third Person (No longer Kyo's POV)

It was a silent ride back to Shigure's house. Yumiko was a much less reckless driver, despite what everyone else thought she would be. Considering her audacious and exuberant personality, they thought she might be more reckless than Shigure. But thankfully this was not the case.

As soon as they reached the novelists home Yumiko went upstairs and put her things into Shigure's room, and Makino did the same.

"Um...Makino, you couldn't _possibly_ want to stay in my room. Why don't you stay with your cousin Yuki or something?" Shigure pleaded.

No one really wanted to know why him and Yumiko would want to be alone that night but they had a pretty good guess. Makino said nothing, but moved her things up to Yuki's room. Yuki gave Shigure an icy glare from across the room. Shigure whistled, pretending not to know what was going on.

"Idiot," Kyo muttered hastily making his way upstairs. He beckoned Tohru to follow him.

Tohru looked anxiously at everyone else and then with a puzzled look she followed Kyo upstairs and into her room. She saw him sitting on her large bed, staring at her intently.

"What is that cat up to?" Yuki asked to himself from downstairs.

"So what do you want for dinner and what movie do you wan to watch?" he asked in a voice that suggested he really didn't want to spend the evening with her.

But it was quite the contrary. There was no way in hell that he was giving up his plan. No one was going to get in the way of their evening together. Not Shigure, not Yumiko, not Makino, not even that damn rat.

Tohru looked up at Kyo with a cheerful smile on her face. She looked into his blood-red eyes. He may seem ungrateful, but deep down; Tohru knew that he was genuinely happy and thankful. She knew that he really cared for her, but what he really didn't know was how much she cared for him. It was a silly, school-girl crush for a while, but eventually her love for the cat blossomed into a thriving passion flower. A passion that she wanted to share with him.

She blushed at the thought of her and Kyo, together, holding hands, staring at each other with lovesick expressions, running her fingers through his hair, sending soft kisses down his neck. In the rain. She always had a secret desire to kiss in the rain.

It rained when her mom was married. As soon as the priest said 'You may now kiss the bride' it began to pour rain. Most brides would be upset if the were getting married outside and it began to rain heavily, but Kyoko didn't mind. She kissed Tohru's father more passionately then ever, and then danced down the aisle laughing, in the April shower. Kyoko said it was one of the most memorable moments in her life.

But Tohru knew that Kyo would never be able to open up enough to her to actually love her. She tried to shake these feelings away, but every time they came back they were more desperate than ever.

"You don't have to cook tonight Kyo, since Makino and Yumiko got here it's going to be harder to cook for more people. You don't need to do that. I promised I would take care of the cooking and cleaning anyway, remember?" she replied cheerfully.

"God gave them hands, and they can use those hands to make themselves some dinner. Shigure's 29 for heavens sake! He should make his own god damn food. Besides, you do too much around here. You deserve a break. And I want to watch a movie." Kyo declared, he wanted to kick himself for the last part for how stupid it must've sounded.

Tohru let out a suppressed giggle. She then put on a straight face and gave Kyo an 'are-you-sure?' sort of look.

"You really think that they'll be okay?"

"They're not gonna die; The worst that'll happen is they'll miss a meal. Too bad, so sad, boo friggity hoo."

"Well...if you're sure..."

"Yes, I'm sure. Now what do you want for dinner?"

Tohru looked sheepishly at her feet, she could never tell Kyo that she was kind of scared of his cooking. She then got a mental picture of Kyo wearing a pink apron and holding a large black spatula. Never again. That was just too disturbing.

"Maybe, we should go out to eat...?" she suggested hopefully.

Kyo Contemplated these options for a few moments and then shot Tohru a suspicious look.

"I'm not gonna food poison you 'ya know." He spat at her.

Tohru shook her head and responded frantically,"Oh no no no! That what wasn't what I meant! I'm sorry if it came out that way! I swear I didn't mean it to! I think that you cook wonderfully! I mean...-"

He cut in rather annoyed, however, he couldn't help but smile at her spastic reaction, "Yeah yeah, whatever. We can go out to eat. To tell you the truth, I wasn't too thrilled about making you dinner anyway."

She had a hurt expression about her. But Kyo never really noticed it.

"So, where do you want to go?" he asked boredly.

"Um...how about 'Shang-lee's'? There meat pots are delicious!" she exclaimed.

Kyo shrugged. He had never heard about it, but if Tohru liked it, he might as well grin and bear it.

Dinner had gone a lot better than Kyo had expected, his dinner (for once) didn't include leeks. The meat pot had thoroughly pleased him. He also was quite delighted that he and Tohru had a pretty good conversation. Well, it was pretty good for a while. Then it got a little awkward...

"So how are your classes going Kyo?" Tohru asked intently.

Kyo shoved a spoonful of food in his mouth before answering, "Fine I guess, Health class is really boring though."

"Oh, well what are you learning about in Health Class?" She asked dabbing her mouth lightly with a napkin.

Kyo paused in between chews, as he felt the blood rush into his cheeks. Well, he was talking to Tohru, so maybe she wouldn't mind him telling her. After all, she always said it was best to tell the truth.

"Sex..." he said quickly then sheepishly went back to devouring his meat pot.

Tohru blushed furiously and then bit her lip, what the heck was she supposed to say to that. She pretended to look busy by stirring around her meat pot.

Kyo also, was feeling a bit hot around the collar. Ever since he had uttered the three-letter word, which could make anyone blush, he got mental images of Tohru and himself making passionate love to each other. At this he felt his loins tighten, and was very glad that they were sitting across from each other, so he could hide his erection well enough. He hated being a guy sometimes.

Every guy has fantasies and desires some type of pleasure. No matter how proper or un-perverted a guy may seem, he always wants sex. If not, then he's excluded from the rest of society of guys, or he's gay. But gay guys just want to fuck other guys, so really, no guy doesn't think about sex in his lifetime. Kyo had wet dreams, erections, fantasies, all that crap. Even Yuki had them. They just hid it a lot better than other men might.

But other than that, dinner was pleasant. After that they made their way to the nearest video-store and started looking for the perfect movie. Kyo was a little bit afraid that he would be forced to watch a chick flick. And for a while, he had the right idea.

They moved slowly in between the rows and rows of movies. The would occasionally stop and glance at something, but then after looking at the title and the picture on the box, lost interest.

Tohru stopped and then grinned as she picked up a movie from off of the middle shelf.

"What do you think Kyo? It's called 'While You Were Sleeping'. The girls at school used to talk about it a lot. They said it was really good." she explained handing the box to Kyo.

He looked as though he had swallowed a lemon. It had had a woman and a man hugging on the front. It was a chick flick. Anything that doesn't have a large vehicle, weapon, or random object on the cover, is a chick flick.

"I'm not a Sandra Bullock fan, pick something else." he said shortly.

Tohru put the movie back on the shelf with a slight feeling of disappointment. They looked a little bit longer before she had found another video that looked interesting.

"How about this one? It's called 'Sleepless in Seattle'." she said smiling.

This was unbelievable. Everything she picked out...chick flick. Every movie she saw...chick flick. Every video in the whole damn store...chick flick.

"I don't like movies with the word 'sleep' in the title, it bugs me. Don't ask." Kyo explained, rather annoyed.

Tohru looked at him questioningly, but then shrugged and placed the cassette back on the cluttered shelf. And their search continued. After a few more rows of chick flicks, she picked up another movie and handed it to Kyo for his approval.

" 'Titanic' eh? That was like a ship or something right? All I remember was a bunch of people like, died...I think...well if someone dies, I'll rent it." he replied shrugging.

He then saw that it was rated PG-13 for nudity. Without another word, he shoved it back onto the shelf and dragged Tohru to another section. This was the 'Special Entertainment' section. He wondered what that meant at first, then to his horror, Tohru picked up one of the movies and showed him. As soon as he saw Jenna Jameson on the front, he knew it was porn.

"This one is 'Babes in Toyland'. Hey! I watched that as a cartoon when I was a little. I never knew they made a version with people on it. Wait...why does it have an 'Adults Only' sticker on the side...?" Tohru began, scrutinizing the cover.

His eyes widened as she read the back of cover. Once again, he had an erection. Her eyes got wider and wider as she read on. Kyo decided to stop her at 'a land of exotic and erotic toys'. He grabbed her by the arm and then pulled her over to the Family section.

Family section, good, clean, not sexual, healthy movies. Finally. This was becoming insane. Tohru was, once again, the first to pick up a video.

"How about 'Free Willy'?" she suggested.

Kyo was so pissed off, steam practically poured from his ears.

"THAT'S IT! I DRAW THE LINE AT 'FREE WILLY'!" he exclaimed, throwing the video back onto the shelf.

He drug her over to the horror section and picked a random movie off of the shelf. He didn't care what it was, as long as it wasn't 'Free Willy'. He hated that movie with the white-hot intensity of a thousand suns.

Kyo slammed the movie onto the counter and pulled out 1000 yen. After the employee had scanned the movie and put it in a bag, Kyo and Tohru made their way out the door.

They had barely got into the door before Yumiko and Shigure bombarded them with questions.

"Where'd you go?" Shigure asked eagerly.

"What did you do?" Yumiko interrogated, bouncing up and down.

"Did you make us some dinner?"

"Did you go out to eat?"

"Was it a date?

"Are you going to watch a movie?"

"Tohruuuuuuuu can I have some of your delicious beef stew??"

"Are you wearing green socks?!"

Shigure immediately looked at Yumiko with a perplexed expression. She shrugged.

"Well, I'm wearing pink socks, and needed some green socks to match my new outfit and I thought I'd borrow some," she explained.

Yuki looked over from the table. He was reading a book called 'Great Gardening Tips'. He shot Shigure and Yumiko a stern look.

"Stop. Apparently Ms. Honda and Kyo want to be alone." he hissed at them.

Before Tohru even put her foot on the first step, she caught Yuki's icy stare. She felt herself shrink under his glare. What was so wrong with being with Kyo alone? She knew that Kyo and Yuki really hated each other, but her and Kyo barely spent time _alone_ together. Maybe Yuki was afraid that Kyo would do something to hurt her, or that he felt left out.

She turned to Yuki and hung her head shamefully, "You can come and watch the movie with us Yuki, I don't mind at all."

Yuki looked as though he had snapped out of a trance. He stared at Tohru for a few moments and then chuckled lightly to himself. He shook his head as his face cracked into a sweet smile.

"Oh no Miss Honda. It's getting late, I need to catch up on some sleep. Maybe we can watch it tomorrow." He told her, still smiling.

He did indeed look tired. Tohru put her foot back on the step, but took one more glance at Yuki. She gave him a look that said 'are you sure?'. He nodded and then waved his hand, telling her to go upstairs and enjoy the movie, whatever one they were watching.

After a while, Shigure had put a TV and VCR in Tohru's room. She never really used it, but now she was rather thankful that she had it. She'd rather be alone with Kyo in her room. After this thought she blushed at how wrong it must've sounded.

They made their way up to Tohru's room. She sat silently on her large bed, watching Kyo take the video out of the bag and show her the cover. She squinted her eyes to read the title.

" 'The Ring'. Hm. I wonder what it's about..." she said thoughtfully.

"Well, we're gonna find out I guess," Kyo replied bluntly, shoving the videotape into the VCR.

He shut off the lights and flopped down onto the bed next to Tohru. Both their eyes were glued to the television screen. After the first five minutes, Kyo had a feeling Tohru wouldn't be able to sleep that night.

The scene was basically this after the movie ended. Tohru sat upright, hugging her pillow to her chest with one arm and squeezing Kyo's hand with the other. Her eyes were so wide, she looked like a deer in the headlights. Kyo was trying to wriggle his hand away from Tohru's grasp, he didn't look scared at all, in fact he looked as though he was bored.

"T-that was...scary..." Tohru whispered, her voice trembling.

Kyo looked around the room then got up from her bed, "Well, g'night."

Tohru frantically wrapped her arms around Kyo's middle to stop him from leaving. At this point he transformed into a orange cat as his clothes laid down next to him. Tohru clasped her hands to her mouth as she looked at the cat in dismay.

"I am so sorry....But please don't leave! I'm really really scared! Please stay with me for a little bit. Only a little while..I promise!" she cried.

Kyo let out an exasperated sigh. He really did want to stay with Tohru, but he was so damn tired!

"Fine, I will," he said after a few moments.

Tohru let out a sigh of relief, "Well, I'm going to put on my pajamas..."

Kyo began to walk out of the room, but then Tohru stopped him again.

"I told you I wanted you to stay with me!" she whined.

"But you're going to change! I can't just sit and watch!" Kyo replied you...turn around...maybe..." she suggested quietly.

Kyo glared at her and then turned his body away from her and closed his eyes. She faced his back and then looked around the room in a circumspect manner, as though someone were about to jump out from inside of the closet. After realizing that there was probably no one there besides her and Kyo (who was still a cat), she knew that she was safe enough to strip down.

She began by unbuttoning her sweater, and then taking off her skirt. She was then left in her undergarments when Kyo changed back. She had accidentally gotten a good look at his bare backside (which was in fact, nicely toned. He had to work them out, it was impossible for a butt to look _that _good!) She blushed and covered her eyes. Although in her mind she had to admit, she was secretly glad she had gotten a tiny peek. After that perverse thought she hit herself in the head.

Kyo was unaware of the free peep show he had just given.

"I just changed back, I'm gonna turn around and get my clothes, so just close your eyes. I promise I won't look at you either." he admonished her, although Tohru was not oblivious to the fact that he had changed back.

He turned around and snatched his clothes off of the ground. As he was getting up from crouching on he floor, he caught a glimpse of Tohru. It was an accident! He swore it was an accident! Except for the whole staring thing...yeah, that he did on purpose. But he was innocent for the glimpse! He gazed dreamily at Tohru's perfect body. Her flat pale stomach, her long beautiful legs, and perfect breasts. He flushed deeply as his eyes moved to her bra and rested in between her breasts.

Kyo turned back around quickly and began to put on his boxers. Tohru waited for a few moments before grabbing a long button-down t-shirt off of the top of her dresser. She slid it over her head and pulled up the sleeves a little bit. It barely grazed the tip of her upper thigh. If she had raised her arms, she would have the danger of showing her underwear.

"You done?" Kyo asked, his voice cracking. The picture of Tohru still lingered in his mind. He shouldn't have stared like that. He really did hate being a teenage boy sometimes.

"Yes," Tohru replied quietly. She was feeling guilty for staring at Kyo in his nakedness.

Kyo turned back around to face Tohru. She was dismayed to see him only wearing a pair of black boxers. It must be what he slept in. She observed him from head to toe. She loved his body. She loved how he could be so built, yet slender ad beautiful at the same time. Her mind lingered away from Kyo and back to her fright over 'The Ring'.

"Thank you for staying with me tonight Kyo, I really appreciate it..." she thanked him, sliding into bed an under the covers.

Kyo shrugged which meant 'your welcome'. He walked over and sat on the bed next to her. He stared down at her crystal-blue eyes. They were gorgeous. To cover for his gawking, he came back with a jeering remark.

"What was so scary about it? You get scared too easily. I thought the movie was stupid..." he scoffed at her.

Tohru knew better than to listen to is hateful words. In 'Kyo Language', as she would call it, it meant 'Are you okay? I hope you didn't get scared too much. Is there anything I can do? I wasn't scared of it...' .

"The poor little girl, I do feel bad that she died in the well...but I don't want to be killed for just watching a video! Did you see those people after she had killed them, Kyo? It was terrible!" she replied softly, her voice weak with fright.

Kyo looked down at his love. He smiled warmly down at her. Usually he would've said something to mock her last remark, but he was done being a fool in front of her. He didn't want to drive her away from him anymore. He wanted her to be closer. Kyo laid his head on the pillow beside hers.

"If any little girl comes out of the TV I'll kick her ass. How does that sound?" he whispered to her grinning.

Tohru nodded and then closed her eyes. Kyo promised that he would only stay until she fell asleep. But he couldn't help but remain a few more minutes with his precious love. He simply stared at her. Just stared. He laid his hand on top of hers, Tohru wrapped her legs around Kyo's waist and Kyo put his arm underneath her head. He began to stroke through her hair, they weren't exactly hugging. Yay for loopholes. He then brushed her forehead with his lips. He closed his eyes in bliss as he let soft kisses fall onto her forehead. And it was that way that he fell asleep.

((WARNING: THIS SECTION HAS A LEMON IN IT. Is the lemon really nessacerry? PROBABLY NOT! But I'm writing it because I can! HA! ))

Third person, Same Night.

Yumiko slipped an emerald-green nightdress over her head. It fight loosely around her curves and showed off her strong legs. Being the Horse of the Chinese Zodiac she had very strong legs, and the white streaks in her brown hair was explained from the white mane, tail, and patch on her nose when she turned into a horse.

"All right Shigure, you can turn around, I'm finished now." She called back to Shigure.

"It really doesn't matter Yumiko, I saw your reflection in the computer screen the entire time..." Shigure pointed out.

He let out a few barks of laughter as Yumiko slapped him playfully across the arm. They really did have strong feelings for each other. They had never dated before, although they have been quite tempted to. Yumiko and Shigure were VERY distant relatives, so it wouldn't be considered incest if they got married and had children. She was his Aunt's (by marriage) cousin's, nephew's, daughter. So he really doubted that she was even part of the Soma family, but nonetheless she had gotten the Zodiac curse. So she had to be blood-related somehow.

"You are just as perverted now as you were in high school, if not worse." Yumiko replied sternly.

She sat down on the floor Indian-style and began to take out her braided hair (She had it braided up while she was at Soma estate). Shigure watched her idly, as she let the curls and waves from the the braid fall down to her shoulders. She was beautiful. Down to the last curl. He smiled to himself as he sat down behind her and began taking out the second braid.

"No, I had quite the creative mind when I was in highschol." Shigure said as-a-matter-of-factly.

Yumiko snorted, she highly doubted that. Shigure, Hotori, and Ayame all went to the same high school as her. She had skipped her last year of middle school because her grades were through the roof. She was a year younger than everyone when she started 9th grade. Shigure and the others were all seniors. It was awkward enough being the youngest girl there, but Shigure tried to make the year even more memorable by flipping her skirt, lifting up her shirt, snapping her bra, and groping her in the hallways. She had never really forgave him for making her freshman year Hell.

However she did get back at him at his graduation by pantsing him in the middle of his speech. She took everything down, boxers and all. Shigure begged Hotori to erase all of the people's memories, but Hari said that he wanted people to remember that event for years and years to come.

Yumiko helped Shigure a lot with his novels, he had based many characters off of her, and tiny idea's and conflicts were credited to her creative mind.

The reason that they could never date, was because of Akito. Akito had favored both Yumiko and Shigure, they didn't want to sully their perfect record. They had no idea of why Akito did not take any sort of liking in their relationship, but he didn't like any of the Zodiac's to find love. Maybe it was because he had lost love...

"You have seemed to calm down a lot," Shigure stated, interrupting her train of thought.

She looked back at her lover, he was running his fingers through her chestut hair.

"This is how my mood always is. I'm extremely hyper in the morning and throughout the day I gradually slow down. I guess I just get tired." She stated, leaning her head back onto his shoulder.

He smiled and hummed a tuneless song as he continued to stroke through her hair. She sat back in sweet bliss. This was how she always wanted it to be. She loved Shigure with every drop of blood in her body. And she knew that he felt the same way she did. But why hadn't he tried anything yet? Akito was dying, his rules didn't matter anymore, so why didn't he take her in his arms? Why didn't Shigure claim her as his own?

"How can Tohru choose between Yuki and Kyo?" She blurted out suddenly.

"Where did this come from?" Shigure laughed.

Yumiko blushed and quieted down a bit more, "Well, Yuki and Kyo both love that girl so much. Both of them are so good to her. So how can she possibly choose between them? Everyone knows that if she chose Yuki over Kyo, Kyo'd probably kill Yuki or kill himself. And if she chose Kyo over Yuki, Yuki'd go into a deep depression. It's a lose/lose situation."

Shigure sighed as his face screwed up into a confused stare. After a few moments he spoke, "Well, don't tell Yuki this, but I really think that Kyo needs her a lot more than Yuki does. Yuki can really find someone he loves as much as Tohru. But Kyo would continue to push people away. "

"But...Yuki is so good to Tohru, and...well....they look so cute as a couple!" she whined.

Shigure sent her a disarming smile, "Don't we look like a cute couple?"

Yumiko snorted in disbelief, "Who decided that we were a couple?"

"I did."

"Oh, and when did you come up with this bull?"

"Just now."

"I don't remember agreeing to this..."

Shigure gave her a playful smile before jumping in front of her and kissing her softly on the lips. She accepted the kiss, as though it was something she had been expecting. They then scooted backwards, still kissing, until Yumiko was pinned up a against a wall.

Shigure put his body weight on her so she couldn't get away. He forced his tongue into her mouth. As their tongues mated he thought that this was how he wanted their love to be, his bold and hers timid. He slowly brought his lips away from hers and slid his hands inside of her night-dress. He looked at her hopefully, seeing if she was unwilling to go this far.

To his relief she had her eyes closed and her head up against the wall. Her breath was sharp and rapid. He could tell she wanted more. He slid her nightgown over her head and stared began raining kisses up and down her stomach and around her breasts.

She slid his kimono off of his shoulders with ease. They worked away from the wall, Yumiko didn't want to have sex against a wall. It wasn't on the top of her list. Shigure positioned himself on top of Yumiko, it was then she realized that she had 150 pounds of hungry male on top of her. She might as well feed him.

She reached her hands down and slid his boxers off of his hips. She could feel his erection going in between her legs. She had her fun. Now it was Shigure's turn.

He looked down a her, just staring at her face made him more and more aroused. He felt her chest up against his and bit his lip to stop from ejaculating right there. He reached his hands behind her back and unsnapped her bra. He carelessly threw it to the side as he gazed at her bare chest. Her breasts were perfectly rounded and he couldn't wait to run his tongue over them.

All that was left was a piece of cloth separating him and her from Paradise. Yumiko's breath quickened as he stuck his hand down the front of her underwear and lightly fingered her. A moan of pleasure escaped from her lips. Her sexy little moans just made him even more horny as he practically ripped off her panties and stuck his finger once again in her wet entrance.

She rolled over so she was on top this time, as she slowly slid herself down his body and had her hands wrapped around his manhood. She slowly ran her tongue over the smooth surface. He had to control himself from spilling his seeds right into her mouth at that point.

She continued to run her tongue around his loins as he moaned with lustful pleasure. He practically ripped her away from his lower body and positioned himself on top of her. White-hot passion and desire swelled in his chest and was released as he thrust his manhood in and out of her wet entrance.

Passionate love erupted uncontrollably through their bodies as they made love.


	4. The Now Attainable Dream

Kyo's POV

I had one of the most wonderful rests in years. Sleeping next to Tohru, practically holding her in my arms, will stay in my mind for a long time. Waking up to see her angelic face, feeling her hand wrapped in mine, it was as close to heaven as I will ever be. I fluttered my eyes open, I couldn't help but have a warm smile to greet her. I had to kiss her one more time. Just once. She was an addiction. She was my _ecstasy_.

In sweet satisfaction, I kissed her cheek. It was warm against my soft lips. She grunted and rolled over as a response. My smile got wider as I flipped onto my back. My happy moment was soon punctured when I saw Shigure, Yuki, Yumiko, and Makino standing over me with odd looks.

Blood rushed to my cheeks. How the hell was I supposed to explain this?! How long were they standing there?! That damn rat was going to _kill _me. Shigure and Yumiko wouldn't let me live it down, and Makino would just avoid me and think that I was a pervert or something. I felt my body grow hot and nervous as my thoughts were clouded with what if's. I stuttered in awe for a few moments before Yuki grabbed me by the arm and dragged me up to his eye level.

"What did you do to her, you stupid cat?!" he hissed viciously into my face.

I wriggled my arm away from his tight grasp and snarled back at him.

"Nothing! What the hell did you think I would do?!"

At that, I got a sinister idea, my face cracked into a devilish grin.

"And besides, what if I did do anything? What would you do about it?" I taunted smugly.

Yuki's face contorted into a look of rage as he made a grab for me, Shigure took quick action by grasping him around the waist as they crashed to the ground. I stepped back and cackled as Yuki took another swing at me. Why play with him anymore? It wasn't really acomplishing anyting. I let out a big sigh.

"Yeah well, you don't have to get worked up. We just watched a scary movie and she got all freaked out, so she wanted me to lay down with her until she fell asleep. I guess I fell asleep in the process," I explained whilst making my way towards the door.

"Oh, so, I guess your shirt fell off then?" Yumiko pointed out smiking.

I pretended not to hear her as I made my way downstairs. No one had to know how I really felt about her. But had they seen the kiss? They might've, but just not told me anything about it. But maybe they hadn't, I mean, if they had Shigure and Yumiko would be gloating and bantering about it. Strangly, they had seemed a bit out of it that morning.

I opened the fridge and began to chug down a carton of milk. When I realized you can't really chug a half a gallon of milk wthout spewing it back out, I ran to the sink and began rejecting mouthfuls of milk, and a few chunks of the meat pot I had last night. It was pretty disgusting, but that is unfortunately what happens when you try to chug milk.

(A/n: Yes, a true, milk-chugging story, except it was me who did it, not Kyo.)

I heard everyone (with the exception of Tohru) bounding downstairs. To avoid anymore confrontation about Tohru, or why there was a pool of vomit in the sink, I crept silently outside. It was a gorgeous day, the breeze blew lightly through my auburn hair. I stuck my hands carelessly into my pockets and stared into the distance.

It was still mid-morning, even though it was summer, it was quite chilly. I sat down on the back porch, and I was going to stay there until I had heard Shigure and Yumiko leave the kitchen. I had just sat there in my boxers, I didn't really care, considering all of this land was Sohma property and no one could come randomly strolling by. I could run around naked, screaming bloody murder if I really wanted to. However, that wasn't really top on the list of priorities.

It was so easy to get lost in a stare and forget your purpose of the stare in the first place. I was originally looking into the woods (where Tohru had once lived) for a reason, but I forgot. That makes me sound so smart, doesn't it?

I felt someone's presence behind me, but I remained stoical. If they saw me in my boxers, boo friggity hoo. They can deal with seeing a little skin. The only person that it would bother me a little bit is...

"Good morning Kyo! What would you like for breakfast?"

I cringed as my head slowly turned around. As I dreaded, it was Tohru. I smiled nervously.

"Yeah, I'm not really hungry." I replied quickly shooing her off.

She didn't take my hint and sat down on the porch next to me. I blushed and turned my head away from hers. She smiled and looked at me, I tried as hard as I could not to look back. A light sigh escaped her lips and the breeze carried it away.

"It's a beautiful day, " she stated to no one in particular.

"Huh? Oh...yeah, I guess," I replied slowly.

It was amazing how she could appreciate the little things. How she would notice the sky and how cloudless it could be, a faint rainbow in the distance, or how the birds sang more cheerfully that day. It was also incredable how she could miss things entirely. Mostly the things she was oblivious to, were the things about herself. She was so giving and kind to everyone, that it's almost as if she forgot about her own feelings. But that's impossible; No one can really discard their own feelings. Can they?

"So did you sleep well? I mean, you seemed pretty freaked out after that movie," I asked, trying to hide the concern in my voice.

"I slept okay, I did wake up a few times and made sure that the TV was unplugged and that there were no messages on the answering machine. But otherwise, I was fine," she reassured me.

Maybe the movie had affected her more than I had thought. I made a memo that next time we went to the video store to rent 'Free Willy'.

I decided to parry away from this subject.

"So, Yumiko and Shigure seem a little out of it this morning. Any ideas on why?" I asked casually.

She made a choking noise as blood rushed to her face and her eyes grew wide. I looked at her questioningly. What was she hiding? She knew something that I didn't. I put my hand under her chin and then jerked her head towards mine so she was looking me directly in the eye.

"Spill," I said forcefully.

Tohru averted her eyes to the ground and bit her lip. I raised my eyebrows. She knew that I wouldn't let go until she told me.

"Well, you see, I was going downstairs to unplug the T.V. at about 3:00 in the morning. And when I was walking past Shigure's room I heard muffled voices. I wondered if maybe he was keeping Yumiko awake because he likes to write around then, and I thought I heard something...kind of like screaming, but not loud enough to be screaming. And...Kyo I shouldn't be telling you this! I mean, it's none of my buisness! Seeing what had happened was an accident! And it's not right to gossip!" she cried.

"It's not gossiping, they're my family, I deserve to know." I explained tersely.

She glanced up at me a few times before continuing.

"Well, I opened the door just a little to see what was going on. And when I looked inside...they were...they were..." she stuttered.

"Let me just take a shoot from the hip here, they were screwing around?" I cut her off.

She looked at me questioningly, apparently she had never heard the term before.

"They were having sex." I said nonchalantly.

She nodded quickly and then looked the other way after I had realeased her chin from my grasp. It was disgusting. They had never even gone out, and here they were having sex in a house full of impressionable teenagers. Tohru might be scarred for life, she might never recover. But then it hit me. The gears began to turn in my head as I got a sinister idea. _Blackmail._I now have BLACK-FREAKIN-MAIL!

Hotori always had tons of information on Shigure, but he never told me any of it. And Shigure had known me since I was a little kid. So he had a ton of crap on me. Oh, but the tables have turned now!

"Promise you won't tell anybody!" Tohru cried desperately.

Crap. There goes my fun. It went down the drain, got run over, it died, it was shot it rolled over and then was shot again, it...you get the idea. Well, I couldn't tell anyone who didn't already KNOW about it, right? So Shigure and Yumiko didn't count. YAY! BLACK MAIL IS OKAY IN THIS SITUATION!

"Okay..." I replied, a bit dissappointed.

"Thank you Kyo, I feel really bad for walking in on them...and I don't want to make things worse by having them know what I saw," she explained worrily.

Okay, no blackmail. This sucks. I've never gone back on a promise, especially one I made with Tohru. Then again, I hadn't really made a lot of promises with people. I have made promises with myself, however. Was it just me or did that sound weird?

Tohru stood up abruptly and had me rather startled.

"Well, breakfast isn't going to make itself! I better get back inside. You can come in and eat with us anytime Kyo," she informed me brightly before walking into the house.

I stared at her until she had gently closed the sliding door. The picture of her walking away still lingered through my thoughts. I made my way inside after a few minutes and wisked past the table, where everyone was in deep discussion. I payed no attention to them as I bounded upstairs to put on some clothes.

Before I could even get to my room, I heard Shigure's voice calling me from downstairs. I walked back down a couple stairs and stuck my head out from behind the wall to show that I was listening.

"Kyo, someone is coming to visit you today!" Yumiko said in a sing-song voice.

"Yes, she is coming all the way from the main house, just to see you," Shigure said in an impressed voice.

I had to think about it. Then it hit me. It slapped me hard across the face, it fell on my head, there was a huge flashing-neon sign before me, the smoke had cleared, it had...wow, I'm having a lot of fun with writing these. _Kagura__ Damn it. _

NO! She would ruin it! Me and Tohru'ss relationship was starting to blossom and then, here comes the acid rain! Why must Kagura bring me unhappiness? If she really loved me, wouldn't she just take a hint? If she knew me as well as she claims she does, then how doesn't she recognize that I hate her?

I sprinted upstairs and jammed a shirt over my head and put some pants on. The last thing I wanted Kagura to see, was me half-naked. She would get ideas. Bad, not good, immoral ideas. I shuddered at the thought. However I was surprised at my own behavior, rather than running away from Kagura, I was accepting the fact that I had to see her. No matter how much she bugs the hell out of me, she cares about me. And thats more than anyone else can say.

No sooner than that, I heard the door downstairs be practically torn off of the hinges and Kagura's heavy, rapid, footsteps making their was up to my room. I braced myself for the pain that was about to be brought upon me. What did I ever do to the woman??

"Kyo? Kyo! My love!" I heard her call desperately as she ran towards me.

I didn't say anything but gritted my teeth and closed my eyes in frustration.

"I missed you!" She cried, practically strangling me with her arms around my neck.

I flailed my arms about and wriggled to get away from her tight grasp, but from my squirming she had gotten the wrong idea and just sqeezed even tighter.

"Get off of me!" I yelled defensively thrashing my arms in every direction.

"KYO! YOU SHOULD BE NICER TO YOUR FIANCE ! YOU'RE STARTING TO MAKE ME ANGRY!" she exploded punching me repeatedely in the face.

"DAMN IT KAGURA!" I yelled back trying to run away.

Forget what I said earlier. I hate her. I could care less if she loved me. She would kill me before our honeymoon, that is if we got married.

"When will you get it through your thick head?! You're not my fiance ! I don't love you! Hell, I don't even like you!" I bellowed whilst running away.

She stopped dead in her tracks. Her lip began to quiver, tears welled up in her grey eyes.

"Kyo..why would you say such mean things to me? I thought...you loved me...WHY DON'T YOU LOVE ME?!" She screamed, charging towards me again.

"Oh...Hell no!" I groaned

"Why did you not want to speak to Ms. Honda yourself, Akito?" Hatori Soma asked, whilst sitting next to Akito's bed.

Akito's face cracked into a twisted, delusional, smile.

"I was afraid I might burst into laughter. That would ruin the effect of what I was going to say, don't you think?" He said.

Hatori turned his head to the side. He had no idea what Akito was talking about. Had he perhaps gone insane? Had the curse really driven him down so much that it had led him to become crazy?

"Yes, it's only a matter of time. Ms. Honda has only begun to sink herself deeper and deeper into the miseryof the Soma curse." Akito muttered happily.

Hatori stood up and stared into the eyes of the dying man. He didn't look insane, just...lost. Lost in what though? Lost in toughts? Anxiety? Dreams? Wishes?

"Akito...what _did _you have in store for Ms. Thoru Honda?"

Akito tilted his head as his sinister grin grew wider and wider. That smile, the look in his eyes, could cause a grown man to have nightmares for days. He looked livid, malicious, and strangely proud. He was enjoying every second of this mixed feeling. The glint in his dark eyes was devilish. And to Hatori's surprise, he began to laugh. At first it was soft and eerie, like a silent chuckle. Then it grew louder and louder, until it roared like thunder. The high-pitched, maniacle, laughter that sent chills down Hatori's spine.

Akito was rolling in his own twisted joy. He found amusment in Hatori's worried look. Then after a few sharp gasps escaped his lips, he fell back onto his pillow, dead. A small trickle of blood poured down his cheek. The smile still on his face, the laughter still in his eyes.

"I'm sorry that I broke your door Shigure..." Kagura apologized, hanging her head down shamefully.

"It's alright, I can get it fixed up quick!" Yumiko replied cheerfully putting a roll of paper on the wooden frame of the broken door.

"No, it's not alright! Kagura broke it, she should fix it!" I screamed angrily trying to get Yumiko to sit down.

"Kyo..." Shigure began to object, but Kagura quickly interuppted.

"No, he's right. I've practically ruined your house twice now, Shigure. I'm sorry. I really am." she said softly.

Tohru put her hand tenderely on Kagura's shoulder. Kagura lifted her head and smiled to see Tohru sitting beside her.

"It's okay, Kagura. It's easily fixed. Here Yumiko, I'll help." Tohru offered, making her way over to Yumiko and grabbing a second roll of paper.

I jerked my head the other way. Tohru was so selfless. I hated it sometimes. People could easily take advantage of her, and she was so niave that she wouldn't even know it.

"So, what brings you here?" Shigure asked changing the subject.

Kagura sighed heavily, she looked as though she really didn't feel like explaining.

"Well, I was talking to Akito yesterday. He said that I should come to your house and stay there for four days, or until Tohru had opened the letter he had written for her. Then he said that she would probably need my help for something." She explained.

Shigure seemed nonplussed by her cryptic response.

"Akito wrote me a letter?" Tohru asked Shigure, puzzled.

Shigure looked like this was the first he had heard of it. I knew better than that. Knowing Shigure, he was the one in the possesion of the letter. I did feel a bit relieved though, at least Tohru didn't have to face Akito in person. God knows what he would've done to her...

"Who did he give it to?" Tohru inquired.

Shigure began to whistle innocently and roll his eyes in a different direction. Yuki slapped him on the back side of his head. I couldn't help but snigger. Fake tears rolled down Shigure's cheeks.

"Tooohhhrrrruuuuuu! They're being mean to me!" he whined.

"Shigure. It's not the time to screw around. Give Tohru the letter. Akito should be good and dead by now," Yumiko said sternly, putting her head in her hands.

Yumiko and Shigure must've stayed up really late. I mean, she was clearly pissed. And the only way she would be so pissed off is if she was tired.

Shigure stuck his tongue out at Yumiko and then searched in his Kimono, until he pulled out a folded up peice of paper.

The tension and suspense in the room began to highten as she took the letter in her trembling hands. Everyone gathered behind her in curiosity, including Yuki. She began to unfold the paper slowly, dreading the words that were written inside. As soon as the paper was flattened out, a silver amulet with a thin gold chain fell to the floor. No one was interested in the necklace that had just fallen from the letter, our eyes got wider and wider as we read the letter further and further. In Akito's loopy handwriting, were words I never thought I would hear:

**_Dear Miss Honda,_**

****

**_I must apologize for not being able to speak to you in person. My time is short.You have lived with the Soma's for two years now. You know our curse, you accept our curse, you've expeirenced our curse through seeing Kyo in his disgusting form._****_ You have done much for the Soma family. And I know how attatched you are to Shigure, Yuki, Kyo, and all of the others. But could you do a favor? One last favor, is all I ask of you Miss Tohru Honda. Could you break the Zodiaz Curse? I know how. I have known for a long time now. The knowledge has been passed on through the generations of the people who bear the weight of the curse. But I havn't found a single person who could break it, except you. You will need three other Soma's to go on the journey I am about to trust you with. The twelve spirits of the Zodiac rest in twelve people. Not Soma's. They are the descendants of those who have cursed us. You must find them and exorcise the spirits from their bodies. I have enclosed an amulet in this letter, this will be used to locate the people whose bodies are posessed by te spirits. It will emit a golden glow when a spirit is near. Kagura and the others will also feel strange when a spirit is near. How toexorcise the spirits, you will learn how to in time. Do this for us. Save the Soma's. Let our family, live again._**

****

**_Akito_********__**


End file.
